


From the Dust of Another Life

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Community: smallfandombang, M/M, Romance, Trope Bingo Round 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 01:01:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6449170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nathan restarts the photon he ends up in another time stream but in this one he can find no evidence of Jack ever being the Sheriff of Eureka. In the meantime two serious events had befallen Eureka over the past year, causing problems for Global Dynamics in particular. Nathan had arrived in a time stream where half the state of Oregon had been declared a disaster zone following a major earthquake in what should have been a stable area. Most of the Eurekans had managed to reach Global Dynamics in time and were safe in the underground parts of the facility but, for the second time in a year, Global Dynamics was buried under tons of rubble. As he looks over the differences between his time stream and this one, Nathan realizes the major difference was the missing Jack Carter, and is surprised at how much this loss has affected him personally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Dust of Another Life

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [From the Dust of Another Life](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/188098) by JadeBriady. 



> Written for **smallfandombang** Round 5 but also meets: **trope_bingo** Round 6: Reunion
> 
> With many thanks to **JadeBriady** for the gorgeous artwork. Thank you!

**NATHAN**

"See you around, Jack," he stated softly, smiling at the confusion in pain-filled blue eyes.

The world seemed to freeze around him as he hit the button to restart the photon, everything fading away in a bright light and robbing him of his sight momentarily before slowly dimming back to normal tolerance. It was eerily quiet as, shakily, he unlocked the containment unit and stepped out into an empty laboratory. Apart from a few recent footprints and scuff marks, the fine layer of dust proved no one else had been here in a while but Nathan could tell by the direction of the footprints that this person had activated the controls and stepped inside the containment unit.

He was surprised when his next thought was of Jack Carter but he explained that away quickly enough. Carter was the last person he had seen before restarting the photon so of course Carter would be the first person on his mind now. He deliberately turned his thoughts to Allison instead but they drifted straight back to Carter, recalling his pale features and how he was holding an arm tightly pressed to his ribs and stomach. Carter had mentioned injuries bleeding through from other time loops and Nathan had no idea how restarting the photon might have affected him physically. For a moment he feared all those injuries might have slammed back into Carter, killing him instantly, though more likely time would have simply started to flow onward from that point and he would eventually heal. Nathan hoped so because the thought of Carter dying was... strangely unacceptable.

Nathan took a moment to wonder why his thoughts kept circling back to Carter rather than to the beautiful woman he had planned to remarry this day.

"Allison will need Carter," he decided, though he still felt a pang of jealousy at the thought of them making a life together.

Shaking his head sharply to dislodge the irrational thoughts and feelings, Nathan studied the footprints for a moment before making his own set next to one of the existing prints. They were the same in every detail, obviously made from the shoes he was wearing as if some alternate version of himself had stood in the containment unit only minutes earlier. Was that possible? But if that was the case then what had become of that alternate Nathan Stark? He was disturbed to realize he had two versions of similar events inside his head, nestled against each other rather than in conflict, as if they had occurred at separate times rather than at the same time - and Jack Carter was missing from one set of memories.

The door opened suddenly and two security officers rushed in, guns drawn, coming up short when they spotted him.

"Doctor Stark!" One guard glanced around curiously as if looking for something out of the ordinary. "We had a report of a power surge... in this supposedly empty laboratory."

"My apologies. I activated a console to see if it was still operational."

"Maybe a heads-up next time, Sir?" the man asked cautiously as if he felt he might be overstepping his position.

Nathan gave a nonchalant one shoulder shrug. "Next time."

That seemed to satisfy the security team and they nodded in deference to him before leaving him alone in the laboratory, though Nathan had to wonder why the guards were so on edge. He already knew he was no longer in his own time stream, perhaps in an alternate universe or reality, but this at least proved he was still someone in a position of authority within Global Dynamics. All he had to do now was sift through those two versions of his memories and figure out who he was here - and hope he could slip into that life without causing any red flags while he worked on a way to get back to his own time line. At least that was the plan, but from everything he had seen from the data he and Fargo had looked over, there would be no going back. He would have been deleted from that time stream and any attempt to go back could lead to a catastrophic failure - the end of that universe. Until he had proof otherwise, Nathan had to accept that he was stuck here for the rest of his existence.

Taking a deep breath, he wrapped his authoritative cloak around himself - figuratively speaking - and took that first step into this brave new world.

****

Nathan wasn't altogether surprised to find so many changes once he reached the main area. The colors were all off by various shades but the basic architecture and his glass enclosed office remained the same. However, instead of a wide empty rotunda beneath his window he found banks of desks and computers with people working hard. The new set of memories began to dominate as soon as he stepped out of the elevator onto the upper floors; Nathan closed his eyes and let himself sink into the alternate Nathan's memories.

The Science Fair.

All the space junk had accumulated over the town, drawn by the electromagnetic barrier over Global Dynamics. In both universes he'd been in Tesla High at the time acting as the main judge and he was forced to remain there as it was the only safe building in Eureka other than Global Dynamics. He compared what he knew from both versions of the events. In his universe Carter had seen the similarities between Megan Harrington's science fair project and the massive version fixed to the top of Global Dynamics. Dr. Jane Harrington had stolen the design from her daughter without truly understanding how the device worked, passing it through the EM barrier and turning it into a giant magnet. Henry, Megan, and Zoe Carter had worked together to find a way to save the town, and it had worked.

Admittedly, Jack Carter had helped there too.

From the other Nathan's memories he could see that in this universe no one could determine the cause, and though Henry had done his best he simply hadn't had enough time to compute the intensity of a magnetic pulse required to push the debris back into orbit. Except Nathan knew the solution had been to set the correct angle of deflection for every piece of debris so it would skip off the field and burn up in the atmosphere. Perhaps Henry would have thought of that idea and built a navigational computer given enough time but he hadn't because....

"Because deflecting the debris was one of Carter's simplistic ideas, and so was using SARAH's navigation program to do all the computing," he added softly out loud.

As Carter wasn't there, neither was SARAH.

Nathan let the new set of memories take over, recalling what it was like to leave Tesla's main hall and walk out into a disaster zone. All the space debris had come down, destroying part of the town but mostly drawn to Global Dynamics where the devastation was immense. Surface buildings and external laboratories were obliterated, craters pockmarked the entire area, and fires raged through the woods. He had to call in the military to help them fight the fires and dig through the rubble to find the entrance to the lower levels where most of the Global personnel had sought shelter. Fortunately Global Dynamics had been built to withstand even a nuclear attack, with enough air and provisions to keep everyone alive for years if necessary.

It took several days to dig them out and another week to finish clearing the debris up top so they could recover the bodies of those who hadn't reached safety in time.

Twelve deaths. Twelve families he'd had to inform of the loss of a loved one, unable to even tell them why it had happened as all the evidence was destroyed along with the building. He knew what had happened now but he also knew there was no point pursuing it as Jane Harrington was one of the twelve casualties.

More recent memories assailed him of events that had taken place over the past week.

Eight months after the space debris disaster and they had barely finished rebuilding when an earthquake shook half the state of Oregon, radiating outwards from a point close to Eureka. The newly constructed Global Dynamics building could withstand anything up to a 7.0 earthquake but this one had measured 8.5 on the Richter scale, bringing down the building topside. The rest of the state for sixty miles in all directions, and the town of Eureka in particular, had suffered catastrophic damage. Dozens were dead in Eureka alone, and other neighboring towns had been thrown into disarray with many more left without food, water, power, and shelter.

They'd had so little warning of an impending earthquake but most people in Eureka had followed the town's Evacuation Plan B, immediately heading into Global for safety. Those that made it in time were the lucky ones, though once more they were trapped underground and would have to wait for assistance before they could dig their way out. That was four days ago but Global Dynamics was a low priority compared to the people in Eureka and in the other towns close to the epicenter. The restock of provisions following the Space Debris disaster meant those trapped in Global Dynamics would not have to worry about power, food, and water for some time, perhaps indefinitely if they used the biosphere and hydroponics laboratories to produce more food.

He didn't think it would come to that though as they had maintained contact with the outside world, and from the looks of things they were far better off inside the Global building at the moment anyway.

Nathan looked around his office, seeing all the signs that it was now also his temporary home.

"Rank certainly hath its privileges," he murmured, knowing he had survived with far fewer facilities and creature comforts while in M.I.T. as a student.

From the news reports it appeared no one in this time stream had yet discovered the cause of the earthquake. Some Eurekans were pushing all the blame onto the town's geologist/volcanologist, Doctor Hood, who had disappeared while searching for what everyone had believed was a fictitious magma chamber... until the earthquake and volcanic eruption. Taggart thought Hood had started the whole disastrous event in the hope of reclaiming his ruined reputation, but back in his time stream Jack had uncovered Dr. Tracy Fox's illegal logic diamond operation and together he and Jack had found a way to release the pressure on the magma chamber by venting it into Lake Eureka.

Nathan recalled standing beside Jack on the lake shore, another disaster averted, and actually allowing himself to enjoy the man's company for once. Jack was easy on the eyes, and easy on the mind too when they weren't exchanging retorts.

"So what do you want to do tomorrow?" Jack had said, probably sarcastically, and Nathan had ignored him. Yet he had felt a similar camaraderie before while they moved through Global Dynamics - after Taggart's declaration that they bickered like an old married couple had them calling a temporary truce in their sniping at each other. For a moment Nathan wished he'd taken those words by the lake as an olive branch and brokered a peace between them. He suspected they could have been friends if not for the rivalry over Allison because Jack never treated him as anything other than an equal, refusing to be cowed by his intellect or position.

In this time stream the pressure in the magma chamber had risen unchecked until eventually all that pressure had to be released. They were fortunate the magma had erupted through the vent of a volcano thought to be long extinct, the lava flowing into the lake of its own accord, otherwise the fatalities across Oregon would have been greater still.

He needed to know what else was different. Sifting back through this other Nathan's memories, so many of the same events had happened in both time streams but often with different outcomes.

Kim Anderson was still alive.

Nathan felt a weight lift off his chest and shoulders. He'd carried that burden for so long, even after Henry proved it wasn't his fault. However, as he let his new memories of Kim sink in, he felt the weight press back down on him out of anger and disgust. Yes, she was alive, but unaware her husband was stealing not just all the credit for her life's work but her life too, one memory wipe at a time. Without her assistance he had yet to move to the next stage with the Artifact - taking a sample - so at least this Nathan had been spared not just her death but those of everyone else hit by the exotic particles released when the test went wrong - including Kevin. However, it angered him knowing Jason Anderson was still out there stealing from Kim and from all the great minds around him, and taking the credit and patents to go with that intellectual theft. On a personal note, it meant Henry had never reconnected with the woman he loved. He'd never had the chance to make new memories to replace those stolen from him and Kim by Jason Anderson, and he'd never uncovered the mole in their midst - Beverly Barlowe.

Barlowe hadn't been in Eureka when the earthquake struck, which meant he couldn't do anything about her for now. However, Doctor Fox was still overseeing the Logic Diamond project and Jason Anderson was still out there, stealing peoples memories and taking credit for their work. Yet he wondered how many more events needed fixing.

"I need to make a list of events," he murmured as he sat at his computer desk, pulling up a blank document and the virtual keyboard.

He went through other events in his mind, recalling the statistics chart Thorne had produced, which showed how incidents had risen exponentially since Carter's arrival in town. Nathan had felt a little smug at the time knowing he had proof Carter's presence had been a contributing factor, except now he knew it was more a coincidence than any wrongdoing on Jack's part. Kim's death had caused a domino effect of events, including the arrival of Eva Thorne, which this time stream had avoided or temporarily averted at least. Sending in _The Fixer_ , Eva Thorne, was just a rumor according to the other Nathan's memories, but knowing that rumor held more than a grain of substance gave him a unique opportunity to call in certain favors and ensure there was no need for her presence in Eureka.

As he'd never been removed as the head of Global Dynamics the yearly computer shutdown and Inventory had not taken place yet, so Fargo had never activated the personal force shield that was slipped into his pocket. However, it meant no one had yet discovered how many items Victor had stolen from storage to fund his retirement, and some of those objects were dangerous in the wrong hands. It also explained how certain foreign governments, some hostile to the U.S., had kept up with Eureka's technological advances. He'd always suspected industrial espionage, not realizing he had two different sources at work - Victor for personal gain and Beverly working for a consortium alongside his predecessor, Warren King.

As he started to write up the Fargo-in-the-force-shield incident he recalled his despondent thoughts as he walked along Eureka's main street just after being fired as Director back in his original time stream. He couldn't see a reason to stay in Eureka and he was heading home to start packing his belongings - and perhaps that should have been another sign that he hadn't truly want to get back with Allison. At that moment Carter had pulled up alongside him, his handsome face lined with worry though not for him but for Fargo. Nathan smiled as he recalled the way he had teased and flirted with an oblivious Carter while they worked together to save Fargo, enjoying the confused look on Jack's face. Despite everything that had happened it had been fun working with Jack and he lied when he said praising him had left a bad taste in his mouth, and from the smile given in return, Jack had known it too.

It was a good set of memories on what should have been a black day for him.

Thinking of Fargo made him recall other events, because Fargo tended to be close to to the epicenter of a lot of the incidents in Eureka. He'd never given Fargo his own office space so Thatcher's Doomsday machine was still in its silo, and fortunately shielded enough to survive both the space debris impacts and an earthquake.

"And my Nobel Award is still hanging in my office," he added aloud, smiling at his precious award.

He snorted in remembrance of Carter breaking the glass cabinet rather than trying to see if it was unlocked first - or simply asking for a key. Not that he would have handed over the key if it had been locked and Carter had asked. Instead he'd stood there dumbfounded as Carter said something completely inane about " _partying like it's 1962_ " before rushing off with his Nobel Award tucked under one arm. He shook his head at Carter's unique ability to confound him at every step.

In his old time stream his Nobel Award was still hanging in Doctor Thatcher's room at the Retirement Home, and after Carter mentioned the possibility of other doomsday weapons lying hidden, just waiting to be activated, he had decided to wait until the old scientist died before reclaiming it. He hadn't expected to be the one who _died_ first, wondering if Allison would claim it back one day or if it would end up forgotten at the back of a storage facility in Eureka, covered in dust. Not that it mattered now as his family line ended with him. His parents had barely tolerated having one kid so he had no siblings, and as much as he loved Kevin and considered him a son, he was not Kevin's biological father.

Nathan pushed aside the morbid thoughts and made more notes.

"I'll have to get Thatcher's Doomsday weapon dismantled before it's accidentally triggered," he murmured, adding it to a slowly growing list.

As for the Bunker, Fargo hadn't managed to find anyone simple minded or stupid enough to want to live in a smart house prototype like SARAH, so SARAH had never turned homicidal due to her abandonment issues, out of fear of losing Jack. Nathan added a note to check SARAH's coding and put in both a programmable and a physical backdoor before anyone was allowed to live in the smart house - if it was still standing. SARAH hadn't been online when the earthquake struck but thoughts of one A.I. led to another.

"Callister."

Callister was still dead but without Jack's help he hadn't found him in time, hadn't been with him at the end. Instead Callister had died alone by the side of a road with no family to claim the body. This Nathan had pretended to be magnanimous in offering a decent burial for a former employee while silently grieving alone rather than with Jack's strangely comforting presence on that ride back to Eureka. Back in his time line Allison had mentioned Callister several times since his death, usually bringing him up when they fought over keeping secrets from the other, but once she learned Callister was a machine rather than flesh and blood she simply couldn't see beyond that. Her harsh words always struck hard as Callister had been so much more than a sentient machine created in his private laboratory.

"Jack had understood," he murmured, though it was only now as he thought back to those dark days he realized that, unlike Allison, Jack had given him time and space to grieve, keeping the cutting remarks to a bare minimum and not once bringing up Callister's name as a weapon to hurt him.

This realization along with the camaraderie on the lake shore brought more regret that he'd not taken the time to get to know Jack better, believing himself superior to Jack because of the vast difference in their I.Q. levels. They could have been friends instead of rivals, and perhaps that might have happened now their competition over Allison's affection was finally settled with her choosing him over Jack.

He felt a fresh pang but this time from guilt as once more he had forgotten he was supposed to be remarrying Allison today. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life but instead all he could focus on was Global Dynamics... and Jack Carter. Except this Nathan in this time line wasn't getting remarried to Allison today or any other day. Allison had left Eureka soon after serving him with the divorce papers, and he'd made no attempt to go after her because this Nathan had never got all fired up with jealousy after seeing a good-looking guy sniffing around his estranged wife.

Good-looking. Easy on the eyes.

Nathan sighed heavily, wondering how much of his competition with Carter was over his inability to accept failure - his marriage - and how much due to his interest in the ' _straight but easy on the eyes_ ' Jack Carter. Jack was certainly his type, similar in many ways to a former lover, Brad, though obviously not as intelligent. That wasn't such a bad thing though because Brad was a lawyer for a large Boston firm and he had an ego as big as his intellect, too big when set in conflict with Nathan's own healthy ego. They'd clashed far too often to make it work... and then he'd met Allison and Brad had met Denise.

"So where is Jack in this time stream?" he asked himself.

The two sets of Nathan's memories were identical right up to the moment he turned around in his office on his first day as Director and shook hands with Cobb's replacement, Sheriff Fallon instead of Jack Carter. That was when his memories diverged into two separate time streams. The records showed no sign of Jack ever coming to Eureka, and the other Nathan had no personal memory of him either. A copy of Walter Perkins' equations mysteriously turned up just in time to save the town from the quantum anomaly, probably provided by Barlowe when she realized how much danger they were all in from the quantum device. She seemed the obvious candidate now he knew of her espionage from his old time stream and her connection to Perkins and Warren King.

Nathan made a quick check through the U.S. Marshal's Office personnel database, expecting to still see Carter's name assigned to the L.A. office and was surprised to come up empty. He expanded the search to include all U.S. Marshals.

"So, not a Marshal."

Until this moment he thought the time stream had diverged when he turned around and met Fallon, but perhaps his ego was as big as Jack always implied because he hadn't thought to wonder why dour-faced and unfriendly, ex-Special Ops Major Greg Fallon was in his office that first day rather than Jack; easy-on-the-eyes Jack Carter with his quick smile, bright blue eyes, and strong handshake.

"Jack was the one caught in Weinbrenner's time loop," he murmured, so perhaps this time stream had always been about Jack Carter and the different paths his life might have taken. Nathan needed to know, and that meant finding Jack. "Know your enemy," he added with a smirk, having read the non-redacted parts of Carter's personnel file.

Jack Carter was quite a common name but he knew Jack was born in L.A. in May 1969. He had a younger sister, Lexi. His wife was Dr. Abby Carter and they had a teenage daughter, Zoe. 

"That has to narrow down the field," he stated as he typed in all those details but he found no Jack Carter fitting that description, now wishing he'd taken the time to get a hold of Jack's complete personnel file in case there had been something else in there to give him a better idea of where to search.

"What if he doesn't exist?" Nathan wondered aloud, heart clenching at the possibility, and maybe that should have clued him in more than anything else over his feelings for Jack. "He has to exist," he stated adamantly. "I'll just have to widen the search parameters."

He could not find a single Jack Carter matching that description in the whole of California, or in the U.S. after widening the search even further. The intercom buzzed before he could change the search parameters yet again.

"Yes, Fargo. What is it?" he asked impatiently, because he had to find Jack.

"Uh, I have an Urban Search and Rescue Specialist on hold?" Nathan rolled his eyes at Fargo's questioning response to his snapped response, imagining the _desperate-to-please_ cheesy smile, and he sighed heavily, knowing his search for Jack would have to wait just a little longer after all. "Um, it's audio only," Fargo added.

"Put him through." He waited for the click. "This is Doctor Nathan Stark."

"Doctor Stark, I'm...."

The familiar voice rolled over Nathan, stunning him sufficiently that he didn't catch the specialist's name. He just knew that voice, coming as a shock after worrying Jack didn't exist in this time stream only moments before.

"My apologies, I didn't catch your name."

"USAR Specialist, Deputy Michael Jonathan Carter... or you can call me Jack for short."

Nathan could almost hear the smile in Carter's voice, and a memory of that smile during the Fargo-in-a-force-field incident came swiftly back to haunt him.

"Michael Jonathan 'Jack' Carter," he repeated softly, suddenly aware of why he hadn't found him easily.

It had never occurred to him that _Jack_ was a preferred name, which meant Nathan had been looking for him under the wrong first name. He typed in 'Michael Jonathan Carter' and was rewarded with a full history, and a explanation for why he called himself Jack instead of Mike. His father had the same first name of Michael, and his grandfather too, so it was likely a tradition passed down from son to son where they referred to each other by their second given name to avoid confusion.

"Yeah." Jack drew out the word. "Are you... okay in there? Enough oxygen?"

"Yes." He cleared his throat. "Perfectly fine. I just wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon," Nathan covered his reaction quickly. "We have ample food, water, power... _and_ oxygen. Enough to last... well, indefinitely."

"Okay," Carter finished brightly. "That's good to hear because it might be a couple more days before we can reach you."

****

**JACK**

After several more minutes of conversation Jack ended the call, smiling and shaking his head. He had no idea what Nathan Stark looked like but Jack had loved the sound of his voice. Deep and mellow, almost like a lover whispering in his ear. He knew it was a fanciful notion, and reality rarely stood up against the fantasy, but after what was shaping up to be the week from Hell he figured he was allowed a pleasant dream or two to get him through the next few days.

Week from Hell.

"Yeah," he murmured as that just about summed up the past four days.

Whenever there was a major disaster - tornado, earthquake, hurricane, flooding - the closest three teams were mobilized immediately to start search and rescue. As a member of one of F.E.M.A.'s first response teams he was always prepared to be deployed at a moment's notice anywhere in the world, which had played havoc on any relationships. Working with F.E.M.A. wasn't the career he'd originally chosen for himself. He'd started out as a local deputy for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (L.A.S.D.) to gain the necessary experience for joining the U.S. Marshals. When he washed out of FLETC, the U.S. Marshal's Training Academy, after missing the cut-off mark on a final written exam paper by just a couple of points, he'd taken an offer to join the Homeland Security Division of L.A.S.D. instead of going back on patrol in the Sheriff's Department.

Jack remembered the interview from twelve years earlier.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Team work." Fred Warner had stated strongly. "F.E.M.A. cannot operate without team work, and your scores in the U.S. Marshal's psych evaluation tests prove you are both a leader and a team player. Someone who knows his limitations but will still try to exceed them to save lives. It showed you have empathy and integrity, and a high aptitude for finding people, and we want to develop those skills. We have experts in operational fields, able to handle the communications, engineering requirements, medical, I.T., and logistics, but we also need men on the ground in a disaster." Fred smiled. "That's where you come in, Jack, as a Search and Rescue Specialist on one of our first response teams."

Jack blinked. It wasn't quite what he was expecting. When he applied for Homeland Security Division he had envisioned himself hunting terrorists along the Mexican border as part of a joint task force, or working with the Port authorities in L.A. or San Francisco, his top location preferences on his application. F.E.M.A. wasn't even on his application shortlist, but he liked helping people and as a deputy he had joined rescue efforts as a first responder on numerous occasions. This was all in his personnel file. Plus the work sounded intriguing and important, and he would be helping to save lives.

"So, if I accept, what could I expect?"

Fred grinned. "To get dirty, and often!"

Jack smiled back wryly. "No change there then."

~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks of training had followed the interview, learning how to shift debris safely, how to shore up collapsed sections to avoid any survivors buried beneath the debris from being killed by the rescue effort. They taught him how to use various power saws, drills, and other machinery to break through or lift concrete, brick, metal, and wood. He was also trained in handling hazardous materials and other members of his Task Force were certified for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), but what came naturally to him was his ability to figure out where someone would run for cover, to visualize a building as it was before it collapsed, to see the possible voids where a person might be found alive. In a sense he was still ' _manhunting_ ' but rather than looking to take criminals off the street instead he was searching through the debris of a disaster for survivors.

And he was damn good at his job.

When he accepted the job he hadn't expected to be deployed so often, and that was hard on Zoe.

Zoe. His beautiful little girl who had grown into a sullen teenager.

He'd met Abby at a compulsory psych evaluation after shooting a man robbing a store; his first weapon discharge on active duty as a sheriff's deputy. Unfortunately the guy was high on amphetamines and he had already shot dead the store owner. He'd given Jack no choice when he refused to drop the gun and instead aimed it at him. After he returned to active duty he and Abby started dating even though a relationship between a psychiatrist and a former patient would be frowned upon. They only slept together a few times, but when Abby fell pregnant with Zoe due to a faulty condom he had tried to do the honorable thing. He had asked her to marry him... and she said no, likely to protect her reputation at first.

At the back of his mind he knew Abby had made the right decision for both of them as he'd not been ready to settle down with anyone at the time - male or female. Yeah, he hadn't exactly hid his bisexuality from her, wanting to be upfront from the very start, though she knew from their professional relationship that his overall preference was for his own gender. She was right though. If they'd stayed together then eventually they would have come to resent each other because Jack would have honored his marriage vows to her, denying both of them the chance to find Mr. Right.

When Abby decided to keep the baby, barely managing to avoid being struck off when the details came to light, she put his name on the birth certificate and granted him paternal visitation rights. Zoe even stayed with him one weekend a month when he wasn't deployed or training in Disaster City in Texas.

Over the years that followed he was glad he and Abby had remained good friends. All the training in the world couldn't prepare someone for the real life pain and suffering of the injured and dying, or for pulling crushed and broken bodies from under the rubble. He had a F.E.M.A. psychiatrist to talk to professionally but it wasn't the same as talking it through with a friend. With Abby. She was there for him after he returned from his first F.E.M.A. deployment following a minor earthquake in northern California, and she'd been there for him again when he'd been a member of one of the many teams sent in to search through the debris of the collapsed twin towers on 9/11, looking for survivors. She helped him deal with the initial trauma, and over the years she'd helped him learn how to grieve for the dead but focus on the living, rejoicing in the lives he saved rather than despairing at those lost. When she did eventually meet her Mr. Right he was happy for her, though Zoe wasn't as impressed.

This latest disaster was no different from others he'd attended over the years that followed, though the entire geological community was at a loss to explain how an earthquake so high on the Richter scale could occur in an area known to be boring and stable as far as plate tectonics was concerned. His Task Force had concentrated their search and rescue efforts on the small town of Rapid Falls, close to the epicenter, sifting through the rubble. They'd found a few survivors, but the cadaver dogs had found plenty of people who were not so lucky.

After four days without a break and little sleep he had expected a couple of days downtime while another Task Force took over before heading back out into the field again, as it was grueling work. He was looking forward to heading back into L.A. to see Zoe if only for a few hours. She'd been causing her mother a little grief since Abby married, wanting to be with him all the time. She'd run away a couple of times now but, fortunately, Jack had used his Homeland Security contacts to stop her at the airport last time, before she could get on a flight to find him in Disaster City in Texas.

Jack got a call from his boss just as he was getting ready to organize a lift back to Orange County with the rest of his team.

"Jack, I need you to oversee the search and rescue operation at Eureka and Global Dynamics."

"I thought the Army were-."

Fred sighed. "Jack, you're one of my top field specialists and I want you there. I _need_ you there," he stressed. "This is the second time that building has collapsed this year. They'd only just finished rebuilding it."

"I don't recall seeing anything about a previous-."

"Neither do I. It was classified well above our pay grade."

That rang a few alarm bells in Jack's head as it meant Global Dynamics was likely some Department of Defense research facility and could contain hazardous materials. Still, he'd made a promise to Zoe to be back by the weekend.

"I'd kind of hoped to..." He sighed, scrubbing the back of his head with one dirt and grit covered hand. Hopefully Zoe would understand his job had to come first. People needed him. "Sure, Fred. But you owe me."

After Fred disconnected he called the number Fred provided for the Director of Global Dynamics, wanting to hear of their situation firsthand.

That brought his thoughts back full circle to the mellow voice in his ear only moments ago. Nathan Stark. Out of curiosity he fired up his laptop and put the name in the search engine, surprised to find Stark wasn't some elderly bureaucrat with a doctorate in Political Science or Administration. Nathan Stark was just a couple of years older than him and a Nobel Laureate, so he had brains too. He was tall, dark, handsome, and if the recent photo was to be believed he was also in great shape, ticking every box on Jack's fantasy guy list.

Jack sighed. He had a habit of falling for guys who were out of his league, and Nathan Stark looked like he would be pretty high maintenance too with his expensive suits. Still, a man could dream. He decided to do just that, taking advantage of the rest of the night to get some sleep while he had the chance. The Army Engineers had started clearing a path towards the Global Dynamics main building but the real work in bringing out the survivors wouldn't take place for at least another full day.

Until then Jack decided he could keep himself busy by checking back through the small town of Eureka even though most of it had already been cleared. But first, he'd call Zoe and try to let her down as gently as possible.

"I'm sorry, Zo, but I have to do this. It's my job-."

"It's your job to be my dad too, not Jeremy's."

He sighed. Jeremy was so formal but she was resisting having a step-dad, and Abby had suggested both he and Jerry give up trying to make her call her step-dad 'Jerry' as it only made her dig in harder. Abby blamed him for Zoe's stubbornness.

"I'm doing the best I can, Zo. You just have to-."

The line went dead and he sighed heavily. He didn't have the time or energy to fight with her right now so he decided to let it go, leave her to work through her anger issues aimed at him in the hope that next time she'd be more willing to listen and understand his position. He did have regrets though, wishing he had been more of a father to her as she wanted.

****

**NATHAN**

Once he knew what to look for, finding Jack's personnel file was easy. The birth date was the same and Jack had a daughter called Zoe, but the differences between his Jack and this one had started a lot earlier when Jack joined the L.A.S.D. in Orange County instead of the L.A.P.D. in the city. He'd applied for the U.S. Marshal's and he had been accepted on merit in lieu of a Master's Degree - four years in local law enforcement. Nathan glanced over the final written exam paper. Jack had missed by two marks, not even worth 1% overall, and he was surprised Jack hadn't asked for a re-marking. Maybe he had in Nathan's former time stream, or maybe his Jack had been given a more sympathetic marker who'd looked for those two extra points elsewhere in the paper, giving him a pass.

This Jack hadn't been so lucky in that respect though he'd made a name for himself as an exceptional search specialist judging by his F.E.M.A. personnel file. His Jack had been extremely good at hunting down fugitives before being promoted to Eureka's Town Sheriff, and the only difference was the people he went after now were grateful to be found rather than shooting back at him. It was just as dangerous though, working in unstable conditions.

The U.S. Marshals tended to keep the Press at arms' length, not wanting to reveal the identity of their agents for their own safety, so Nathan wouldn't have found so much on Jack had he looked for him in his old time stream. Here, however, he looked through photographs and videos posted from various disasters, recognizing Jack in some of them despite the often grimy clothing, and dirt and sweat-covered face. In some Jack looked resolute. Focused. In other photos he looked exhausted but still determined. It reminded him of the times Jack had rescued people in the town, and one memorable time when he'd pulled two scientists out of a burning laboratory, sliding down the wall afterwards with his soot-covered face and uniform, coughing from smoke inhalation. He'd not been happy when Allison forced him back to stay in the infirmary overnight with a cannula providing oxygen, just in case he had inhaled too much smoke.

Occasionally Nathan spotted images of Jack clean and smiling, milling about with other members of his team, obviously at ease socially. It seemed this Jack was no different from his Jack in that respect, with half of Eureka falling in love with him, apart from making search and rescue a career choice rather than law enforcement.

His Jack?

Once more all his focus had been on Jack and not on Allison. Perhaps it was because he had this Nathan's memories of how his relationship with this Allison had ended, with neither of them finding a way to reignite the love they'd once held for each other.

For the first time he actually stopped to ponder on this, and on why he was so determined to win Allison back when their marriage had failed for valid reasons. She'd only started to thaw towards him once their positions were flipped and she replaced him as Director of Global Dynamics. Until then she had tolerated his presence for Kevin's sake, and they had argued often over the smallest of details, work related mostly, with the same accusations of caring more for his work than for her. It occurred to him that he had simply chosen to ignore the problems that destroyed their first marriage out of jealousy, not wanting to lose her to Jack Carter, and he was a fool for believing it would work a second time around when nothing had changed between them.

He hated to admit he was wrong and yet, "Was I making a huge mistake?"

The image of a smiling Deputy Michael Jonathan 'Jack' Carter filling his screen instead of a photo of Allison seemed to answer that question. When he looked back over this past year he realized his focus had been mainly on Jack rather than on Allison, wanting to show off, wanting Jack to see he was smarter, richer, more charismatic and just as handsome. Wanting Jack to notice him. It was hell of a time for an Epiphany especially as his Jack was lost to him now.

*****

**JACK**

From his first sight of the debris where the small town of Eureka had once stood it was clear to see it had been close to the epicenter. Four full days had passed since the earthquake, and a series of aftershocks had threatened to tear down the few parts still standing but they had been shallow compared to the big one that had rocked half the state. Eureka had been a classified area in the middle of nowhere so he hadn't even heard mention of the place until late yesterday. As Jack had worked alongside the Army and National Guard plenty of times in the past he wasn't surprised when he was taken to the command tent first, finding General Mansfield in charge of the rescue operation.

"We still have five missing persons, though we're not expecting to find any more survivors at this point."

He nodded, quietly wondering why Mansfield had requested a search specialist for body recovery as usually the cadaver dog teams took over at this point. Still, even though Mansfield seemed convinced the chances of finding anyone else alive in the rubble was slim to nonexistent, Jack never liked to give up hope until the last body had been extracted. He'd seen people survive against incredible odds.

Fortunately a foreshock had acted as an early warning and this had given most of the people in this small town of Eureka the chance to evacuate to the safety of the Global Dynamics building before the main shock hit or the body count might have been much higher. He turned his attention to the images of Global Dynamics. Apparently the building was like an iceberg, with less than a tenth of it on the surface. Mansfield brought up more recent images showing how the surface buildings had been leveled in places. The Army had found no survivors in the topside debris, but surprisingly few bodies too. The rest were in the equivalent of an underground bunker - a very deep underground bunker that had withstood the earthquake with few casualties. According to the Department of Defense, who had been in touch with Nathan Stark from Day One, they were self sufficient, and even had surgeons and operating facilities underground to deal with those injured during the quake. They were certainly better off than the inhabitants of other nearby towns, which was why F.E.M.A. had concentrated its search and rescue efforts on those areas, leaving Eureka and Global Dynamics to the military.

He had slept surprisingly well, though that was more likely due to exhaustion than the stress relief he'd given himself while thinking about tall-dark-and-handsome Nathan Stark. Still, he tried not to feel too guilty about that but he was only human after all. Unable to sit still for long, especially when people needed his help, Jack headed out with the next team.

The army had cleared the area in a spiral pattern, working from the outskirts of the town inwards, marking buildings with the standard search pattern information - date and time, Search Team, and whether anyone had been recovered, dead or alive. The extent of the damage had made it a slow process but they had covered the whole town by now leaving no hope of recovering anything other than bodies buried deeper in the rubble, but Jack wouldn't accept that. He decided to treat this as a first walk-through.

Five hours into his search pattern along the remaining section of Main Street, with Sergeant Crawton acting as his buddy for safety, Jack held up his hand and became motionless. The building ahead of him had been the Sheriff's Office and he pictured it now from the photos; a brick facade, solidly built though still no match for an 8.5 earthquake. Two of the people on the list of those missing were the sheriff and his deputy, and if they were anything like the guys he'd served with in the L.A.S.D. then they would have been thinking of others rather than of themselves - Protect and Serve. Frightened people ran to where they felt safest, and anyone leaving it too late to head for Global Dynamics might easily have run here instead. He listened but could not hear anything, but then it had been four days since the town was leveled so any survivors could be unconscious from dehydration or blood loss.

He focused inward on the images of its interior. According to the data, the Sheriff's Office contained a cell made from an unusually strong alloy, built up against a load-bearing wall that was still partially standing amid the surrounding debris. In his mind he visualized a small group of people, perhaps seeking cover under the solid wood desks, or even huddling inside the cell. He looked closely at the debris standing between him and the image inside his head, stepping forward carefully. A large section of the roof had collapsed but he could see the void from the way the roof debris was pitched on one side.

"We need to set up the equipment here."

Crawton looked confused because, like the rest of his Army team he figured there was no one left to save, but he shrugged and obeyed Jack's request anyway. Together with Crawton, Jack set up the Leader Hasty he'd carried with him, using the wireless life detector to turn the area beneath into one huge microphone so they could listen for any respiration sounds through the headsets.

"There," Jack murmured, raising a thumb and smiling back brightly at Crawton.

While Crawton sent in the excited call for more rescue workers, Jack switched the Hasty to camera mode, carefully easing the camera through a small gap close to where he believed they would find any survivors. The flexible head and bright lights instantly sent back images as he worked it slowly into the debris, drawing back a little when he caught a flash of movement.

"Help us," the woman's voice was weak from lack of water, but easily heard over the microphone.

"You're going to be fine. We found you and we're going to get you out," he communicated back through the Hasty. "I'm Jack. What's your name?"

"Jo. Deputy Jo Lupo... and Zane Donovan."

"Okay, Jo. Are you injured?"

"No. Just thirsty."

"And Zane Donovan?"

"His arm's broken," she coughed to clear her dry throat. "And he took a blow to the head."

"Is he conscious?"

"He was until a few hours ago. He has a pulse. Shallow and rapid."

"Okay. You just need to hang in there a little longer. Okay?"

"Okay."

Jack had already taken note of any obstructions or dangerously balanced obstacles between him and the survivors, determining the safest course of action, but he waited for more engineers to arrive on the scene with lifting equipment. While he waited he asked more questions as he panned the camera around the enclosed space.

"Are those bars?" Crawton asked.

It looked like Lupo and Donovan were inside a cage but the cell was supposedly twelve feet across, unless... "Did the cell warp around you?" Jack asked.

"The ceiling came down and the weight bent the bars over us."

"Then we're going to need to cut through the bars," Jack added, already trying to figure out the stress points as he suspected the cage was holding up the mound of rubble.

"No good," Lupo stated. "The metal's made of a super-strength alloy. You'd need a high density laser-cutter, and the only one in existence is inside Global Dynamics."

"Damn it," Crawton cursed. "Then we'll have to get into Global first-."

"Or... we could dig down and come up beneath them," Jack offered, and Crawton blinked in surprise.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Excavating a hole was hard going even using a pneumatic drill to break up the concrete and brick, but Jack and the Army engineers eventually had a small, man-size tunnel running under the trapped people. He crawled in, pushing forward mainly on his belly and cleared the final six inches of debris manually, grasping the small hand that thrust through. He smiled brightly at the grime-covered deputy gaining a tired but happy smile in response as he handed her water and a medical kit, knowing she would have had the necessary training to administer first-aid. He made a judgment call based on her condition and the knowledge Crawton had given him that she was ex-Special Forces.

"I need to widen this opening a little more, then I want you to crawl over me and head on out."

"I'm not leaving him-."

"I'm not planning on leaving him either but that space isn't big enough for all three of us. I need you topside, Jo, so I can concentrate on Zane."

He could tell she hated the idea but she nodded her agreement. It took another ten minutes to widen it enough so she could crawl over him and he pressed flat, grunting when one bony elbow dug into his ass as she moved across him with surprising grace otherwise. Fortunately she was small and scrappy, and once she was behind him he wriggled into the space she'd vacated so he could take a closer look at Donovan. Lupo was certain he had no injuries other than the broken arm and cut on his head but Jack couldn't afford to take any chances. He could hear the cheers topside as Lupo crawled out, smiling to himself before focusing back on Donovan. The arm had been crudely splintered and Jack had pulled a backboard through with him that was connected to a pulley topside by a strong nylon line. Carefully he strapped Donovan in, explaining what he was doing even though the younger man was obviously unconscious.

"Just need to secure you so you don't move-."

"It's my arm that's broken, not my neck."

The weak voice momentarily startled Jack and he smiled down at Donovan.

"Hey! Welcome back. I'm Jack Carter," he introduced himself. "Good to see you awake. And now we're going to get you out of here." He radioed topside. "Ready to bring out Donovan."

Jack kept the backboard steady as Crawton and the other engineers winched Donovan out, accepting a hand once he reached the surface and smiling brightly at the cheering and back-slapping. Everyone needed this moment of elation from bringing out someone alive - or two people in this case - especially as they'd uncovered the bodies of two of the remaining three missing persons in the process. They had pulled the crushed bodies from under the rubble close by, and one of them was Sheriff Fallon judging by his beige uniform and the gold star still pinned to his crushed chest.

Tomorrow they would have even more to celebrate when they reached the people inside Global Dynamics... and he would get to meet Nathan Stark face-to-face.

****

**NATHAN**

"Doctor Stark?"

"What is it, Fargo?"

"Deputy Carter is on the line. Video link."

"Put him through." He waited a second for Jack's face to fill the call screen. He'd almost forgotten how handsome Jack was with his blue eyes and ready smile. His hair was longer than the close-cut he wore as Eureka's sheriff, with blond curls falling over his forehead. "Deputy?"

"I thought we agreed you could call me Jack," came the familiar voice, with a teasing tone that played about his smiling lips, making his blue eyes sparkle.

"Jack," Nathan responded. "How can I help you?"

"I've been going over the plans for tomorrow and wanted to verify the sublevel."

Nathan nodded to himself, pulling up the blueprints for Global Dynamics onto his desktop and zooming in on Elevator Shaft 2. That part of the surface building had sustained the least damage in the earthquake and as the top floor for this elevator was just below the entrance lobby, less debris had fallen into the shaft. They had already decided it was the most accessible both for the engineers above and for his people below but Nathan understood what Jack was asking of him.

"Sublevels one through seven sustained heavy damage in the quake. Level Eight is the most stable entry point." He saw Jack nod fractionally. "My people have already secured the area leading to the shaft on that level, and once you can confirm it's safe to do so, we'll unseal the elevator doors."

"Eight," Jack repeated softly, wincing. "That's... a long way down."

Nathan smiled, recalling Jack telling him heights made him feel nauseous. "Then I'll make sure not to stick my head out until you reach Sublevel 8," Nathan quipped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked, a little confused.

"In case you drop or dislodge something," he covered quickly, deciding it might be a little creepy to mention Jack's nausea at extreme heights/drops when they were not supposed to know each other in this time line.

"Yeah, might be best to wait until we get there... or wear a hard hat." The smile was back, brighter than ever. "I wouldn't want you to lose your head. Good night-."

"I heard you found and rescued Deputy Lupo and Zane Donovan." Nathan couldn't resist extending the conversation, not wanting to say good night just yet.

"Yeah. All in a day's work, Scientist."

He seemed to make light of his accomplishments, which was exactly like the Jack in his old time stream.

"It was welcome news here, especially after losing Sheriff Fallon."

Jack looked away shyly, saddened for Fallon but obviously pleased with the praise from him. He knew it might be wishful thinking but Nathan thought he saw more than simple interest in Jack's expression. His eyes had dilated, leaving the bright blue irises just a thin ring around the enlarged pupils. His color had heightened too and Nathan smiled as he watched Jack rub the back of his neck in a familiar gesture. They talked a little longer, with Nathan eager to discover exactly when this time stream diverged while simultaneously trying to work out how those changes might have affected the man he had once known.

Jack gave an embarrassed half-smile. "I looked you up. You have a Nobel Award in... something I really didn't understand." Jack laughed and Nathan liked the way his whole face lit up.

"And **you** have a daughter... but no Mrs. Carter."

"Yeah. Long story."

"I'd like to hear it."

"Perhaps later, when we're not talking over a video link."

Nathan didn't mention it was a secure line as he doubted Jack's concern was over privacy. Anyway, he liked the idea of spending time with Jack face-to-face, a thought he had detested only a few days earlier but he guessed being deleted from one time stream and thrown into another had made him re-evaluate his relationships.

"Goodnight, Nathan. I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Nathan also didn't mention he had not invited Jack to call him by his first name, but mostly because he liked the sound of his name on Jack's lips, especially when spoken without sarcasm or irritation, or simply just to rile him.

"Goodnight, Jack. I'll see you arou... tomorrow."

Jack smiled as he ended the call. That same easy smile had rarely been aimed in his direction back in his old time stream, but Nathan knew he was to blame for that. He'd been too busy trying to annoy Jack rather than please him, but he wanted that to change. He wanted to have that happy, easy smile directed at him again.

****

**JACK**

Jack slept surprisingly well again that night even though he usually tended to be restless on the night before a dangerous rescue operation. Of course it helped he had allowed himself a little more tension relief before sleeping, thinking of Nathan again as he brought himself to an easy, blissful release. He knew it was stupid getting hung up on someone he barely knew and, for all he knew, could be straight as an arrow and married with a dozen kids, except he didn't get that impression when talking with Nathan earlier. He was certain Nathan was flirting with him, seeing the tell-tale flickers of interest on the other man's face. At least he hoped Nathan was flirting because once all this was over Jack would like to see if the flirting could go one step further.

Or all the way, he added silently.

He joined the military engineers in the mess tent, taking the seat offered by General Mansfield and grabbing a coffee and a breakfast burrito while Mansfield gave an update.

"We've cleared the debris from around the head of the shaft and sent in a crane to remove a few dense slabs blocking our way." He looked at Jack. "We should be ready to set up a winch and harness shortly."

Jack nodded, aware he would be the first one lowered on a harness because he had the most experience in search and rescue under similar conditions, and because F.E.M.A. had insisted on it. F.E.M.A. had authority even over the military under certain circumstances, able to call in the National Guard too, though they'd allowed Mansfield run the show around Eureka and Global Dynamics. For now Mansfield and his men were doing everything right so although any other Task Force leader might have been tempted to take over the operation, Jack knew it would be more diplomatic to be a team player unless he needed to exert his authority. Instead he decided to act as a specialist consultant to Mansfield. He suspected this was why Fred had asked him to liaise with the military rather than Tom Aspen, one of the other USAR Specialists who tended to get a little too officious with civilians and military alike.

"Deputy Lupo will be accompanying you," Mansfield added.

Jack frowned because he thought the army would prefer to send one of their own team with him, like Crawton. Mansfield must have noticed his confusion.

"Deputy Lupo is former Special Forces." Which was something Jack already knew from Crawton yesterday. "She is highly trained... and she was most insistent."

Jack raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah, and she was the town's deputy, and we only just hauled her out of the debris. She should be resting-."

"Four days is enough rest, Deputy Carter," Lupo stated and Jack turned upon hearing her voice behind him.

She looked a lot different with her face and clothing clean and her long, dark hair tied back tautly. He could see a few minor scrapes and bruises on her face but otherwise she looked remarkably well-rested considering she had spent those four days in a void under tons of rubble. Small and scrappy, he thought again. General Mansfield looked like the kind of person who wasn't swayed easily by emotional pleas so if he thought Lupo was ready to assist then Jack believed him.

"Okay, but you follow my lead," he responded, deciding this was one time when he needed to exert his authority, and waiting for affirmation before turning back to Mansfield. "I was on the line to Director Stark yesterday evening. They're not in any danger down there so we don't need any heroics."

"Agreed," Mansfield replied.

Two hours later Jack was checking the winch and harnesses carefully, making sure all the equipment was in order before strapping himself into his harness. He waited for Crawton to check he was secure before he turned to Lupo. She slapped away his hand when he went to adjust a strap, and again a second time. He gave her a stern, no-nonsense look, and once Crawton had moved out of earshot he spoke to her quietly.

"You don't know me and I'm not one of your military buddies, so I know it's hard for you to trust me... but I trust you, Jo. I trust you to watch my back while we do this, and you've got to trust me to watch yours. If you can't do that then you've got to take off that harness and let someone else strap in."

She stared hard at him for a few seconds then released all the tension in her small frame, nodding her agreement. She held her arms away from her body while he adjusted the strap to the correct level of tension.

"Let's do this," she stated softly, and he nodded back.

Jack gave a thumbs up and moved to sit on the edge of the elevator shaft, almost wishing the lights didn't work because it simply made him more aware of how deep the shaft went into the ground. Heights hadn't bothered him that much until he had to jump from a six story building onto a rescue air cushion with a toddler held tight in his arms after the murderous, suicidal father started shooting at the first responders. It was either that or take a bullet alongside the endangered kid. The remembered fear from that incident still made him feel nauseous when dealing with heights but it didn't stop him from doing what needed to be done.

Carefully he pushed off, lowering himself down into the shaft slowly with Lupo close behind him. He kept in radio contact, reeling off the sublevel with every set of elevator doors he passed and offering a status update report as he manually inspected the shaft walls. The doors to Sublevel 3 were heavily buckled outward from a cave in on that sublevel and his instincts were screaming so he ordered Lupo to stop beside him several feet above the level of the doors. Her helmet light panned over the bulging doors alongside his. Jack took a moment to assess the damage in case the doors were at a stress point and needed shoring up before the engineers could finish installing a basic passenger lift similar to one used in mine shafts.

"A small explosive charge would release the door. Any debris would fall to bottom of the shaft," Lupo stated, already reaching inside a pocket for a small pack of C4.

"No, no, no! Jo, no explosives." He reached out and grabbed at her before she could descend the remaining feet. "The shifting debris could destabilize everything above this sublevel."

He didn't mention it might also collapse the shaft above them and kill both of them in the process, alongside all the military engineers working at the top of the shaft. They needed to stabilize that sublevel before going any further. He panned his helmet light and camera to gain as much information and footage of the doors and surrounding area as possible before he radioed topside.

"Bring us back up."

****

**NATHAN**

"Heard you called a stop partway down?" Nathan questioned just a few minutes after Jack cleared the top of the shaft.

"Yeah, we need to shore up Sublevel 3 before going any further. Mansfield's people have some ideas on how to brace the doors safely though I'd be happier if I knew what was behind those doors. I'll head back down once we have the equipment in place."

"Don't be a hero, Jack."

"You mean I'm not already?" he quipped, gaining an eye-roll from Nathan and smiling in response.

"I'll see if there's anything we can do from this side."

"Yeah, I had a feeling you'd say that so same applies to you, Nathan. Don't be a hero."

"I have an healthy sense of self-preservation, Carter," he replied airily, though considering he had expected to die when he stepped into the time chamber to manually reset the photon, he knew that was a lie. Jack didn't know that though so he got the smiling reaction he expected as Jack ended the call.

"Fargo!"

He could almost see Fargo tripping over his own feet in his hurry to get to the door. "Doctor Stark?"

"I need a team of structural engineers... and Henry. Now."

Fargo hurried off while Nathan pulled up the blueprints for all the levels above him, focusing on Sublevel 3. Henry and the others arrived not long after but they quickly agreed nothing could be done until they found a way to get images of the damaged area. Nathan had told Carter Sublevel 8 was the most stable entry point even though Sublevels 5 to 7 were open, but he considered those sublevels to be structurally unsound. He had ordered his people to secure the laboratories on those sublevels, removing any hazardous material, and they'd almost lost two people when part of a corridor collapsed. Still he was certain there might be a way to move from Sublevel 5 to the next level up.

"Even if we could get to Sublevel 4, that doesn't help Deputy Carter with his problem on Sublevel 3," Henry stressed.

"We can use the high density ground imaging equipment developed in Section 6 to visualize the state of Sublevel 3, and pass those images back to the surface."

Henry hummed. "We would have to point it up at the ceiling instead of down at the ground but...." he smiled brightly. "That could work."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

It took half an hour to get the HDGI adjusted for use upward instead of down. In the meantime Nathan decided to change out of his good suit into the set of casual clothes he stored in his office for ' _emergencies_ ', by which he meant when he'd forgotten the hour while working late and didn't have time to go home and change before meeting Allison, back when they were still married. She had a special disapproving expression reserved for those occasions. Fortunately, despite no longer being married to Allison, old habits died hard even for this version of Nathan Stark and he had a casual set of clothes in his office alongside several clean suits. While he changed he made a call to the surface and let Jack know their plan.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Jack replied, and Nathan could see the tension around his eyes. "Any vibration could set off movement on the floors above."

"The HDGI sends microwaves which bounce back when they encounter a change in density or the meeting of two surfaces. No vibrations." 

"You still have to get there from Sublevel 5, and moving any obstacles between levels 5 and 3 could set off a collapse-."

"Sublevels 8 and below are in no danger," Nathan stated, brushing aside his concerns. "Sublevel 8 has a purpose built protective layer able to take the impact of a nuclear bomb landing directly on the building," he added as he finished unbuttoning his dress shirt and shrugged out of it, feeling the cooler office air against his bare chest.

"But you're not..." Jack cleared his throat causing Nathan to pause momentarily while pulling a clean t-shirt over his head. "You're not going to be on Sublevel 8, are you?" Jack accused as Nathan smoothed the material over his chest, and though Jack tried to cover it, Nathan could see heightened color in his face.

He recalled a similar reaction back in his old time stream but until this moment he'd been too caught up over the possibility of Carter spending the night with his estranged wife to register his uncomfortable look. It came as an eye opener to realize the only difference between his Jack and this one was fifteen years of marriage to Abby Carter. It was a strong possibility his Jack had abandoned all his desire for other men, remaining loyal to his marriage until it fell to pieces and ended in divorce only a few months before he arrived in Eureka. Jack was still wearing his wedding ring when they first met, though he removed it soon after, but this Jack had never had to sublimate his interest in guys for the sake of his marriage. Nathan bet he would find a boyfriend or two in this Jack's recent history should he care to look, though the thought of other men in Jack's past sent a wave of possessiveness and mild resentment racing through him.

"I'll take every precaution, Jack, but everything we do in life has some element of risk attached to it."

"Just... be careful."

Nathan smiled, "Why, I didn't know you cared, Deputy," he teased, gaining an eye-roll in response but sobered quickly. "It goes both ways, Jack."

Jack nodded tightly and ended the call.

After pulling on a pair of steel-capped work boots Nathan picked up a hard hat before heading up to meet the team on Sublevel 5, finding half of them milling about close to an elevator half a building away from the one Jack and the military planned to use in the 'rescue'. Henry was on his knees looking into a small handheld screen as Fargo angled a telescopic camera through the slightly ajar door.

"Henry?"

"There's an obstruction halfway between levels 3 and 4. It looks like the elevator shaft collapsed in on itself but that blockage could be bracing a lot more debris on top."

Nathan ran a hand through his beard along his jaw. "We'll have to risk it." He looked round. "I want everyone to stay well back."

He waited until they had followed his order before he used a special key to fully release the elevator door. It slid open begrudgingly, the frame slightly warped from the damage to Global above, but apart from a small shower of dust, nothing moved from the blockage above. After making sure his safety line was secure, Nathan leaned out and grabbed the access ladder, panning his helmet light up to check its condition. It seemed solidly attached right up until the blockage where it was buckled and partially sheared away from the shaft wall. He attached the special elevator door key and the telescopic camera and monitor to his belt.

"Nathan, I should be the one to go," Henry demanded.

"Um, actually, it should be me," Fargo stated, holding up his hand. "I'm smaller and-"

"Clumsy," Nathan interrupted, recalling how often Fargo tripped over his own feet, but he nodded to take away the sting of his words.

For the second time in as many days Nathan felt pride wash over him as he looked at Fargo, but the same reason applied now as it did when he offered to step into the time chamber. This was Nathan's plan so it came down to him to take the risk. He clapped a hand on Fargo's shoulder in thanks before swinging out onto the maintenance ladder and making his way up the rungs slowly and carefully. Occasional showers of dust made him pause but everything seemed stable above his head. He took a few deep breaths before inserting the key into the release lock for the door on Sublevel 4, opening it just a fraction. It moved reluctantly, its frame buckled from the pressure of the debris on the floors above. A few slightly heavier pieces of debris fell from above, mostly stones and more dust. Nathan stayed motionless, pressed flat against the maintenance ladder and holding his breath. He released it when he was sure he was still relatively safe and threaded the camera through the small gap in the door. The corridor beyond was pitch black and what he could see from the camera light was not in great shape. The ceiling had collapsed in several places, and laboratory glass walls had shattered, showering the floor but fortunately it was safety glass so it had smashed into small, round fragments rather than shards. He decided to take a gamble and used the key to release the elevator doors fully but it barely opened wide enough for him to squeeze through.

"Henry. I'm in but the doors only open halfway."

"Don't force them."

"Not planning on it, but it means you'll have to dismantle the HDGI and send it up in smaller pieces."

"I'm on it. Levinson will bring up the first part."

"Tell him to take it slow and easy. Try not to make the ladder shake too much."

Nathan worked out where to put the winch while he was waiting for Levinson, knowing parts of the HDGI were too heavy even dismantled. He helped Levinson through the gap in the doors.

"Start bringing up the rest. I need to head down and see if we can set it up close to the main elevator shaft."

Levinson nodded and Nathan left him to it, carefully picking his way through the debris-filled corridor, making note of any areas that gave him any cause for concern. When he reached Elevator Shaft 2 he noticed the way the ceiling was bowing, deciding there had to be a lot of debris weighing down the area on the floor above. Nathan made his way back to Levinson and together they carried the heaviest part of the HDGI back along the corridor. Nathan made one more trip back with him to collect more pieces and then stayed behind to start reassembling the HDGI while Levinson fetched the final pieces. Once it was all in place he powered it up, aware of the slight vibration from the power source.

"Let's make this quick," he murmured, and started taking images, which would be sent back to Henry's datapad automatically.

"Nathan, we have enough images now so get out of there. The debris field isn't stable."

"On our way," he stated, switching off the HDGI.

For a moment he was tempted to start disassembling it to take it back with them but it wasn't the only prototype so technically it was expendable. He and Levinson weren't. They were over halfway down the maintenance ladder when part of the blockage above started to give way, a terrible groaning of shifting rubble the only warning.

"Go!" Nathan yelled, and throwing caution to the wind they raced down the final few rungs. Nathan launched himself into the Sublevel 5 corridor after Levinson. "Seal the door!" he yelled, and Fargo released the clamps, a fine cloud of dust bursting through the doors just before they fully closed.

The sound of thunder seemed to vibrate through the floor as debris held between levels 3 and 4 above began to fall hundreds of feet to the bottom of the shaft. Nathan could still feel his heart racing, realizing how close he had come to falling to his death with it. He looked up to see Henry staring back at him and for a moment he was tempted to simply brush off his friend's concern but instead he walked over and pressed a hand down on Henry's shoulder. Henry placed his hand over Nathan's and nodded, accepting the silent apology for almost getting himself killed, though Nathan had a feeling Jack would not be so easily forgiving.

He was right.

"Deputy Carter is on the line and he sounds... upset?" Fargo gave a false smile as he handed over the cell phone, and Nathan was grateful it wasn't a video call.

Upset was an understatement; he was livid.

"What the hell is going on down there?" Jack demanded.

"You should be getting images of the blockage on Sublevel 3 right about...," he glanced at Henry and gained a nod. "Now."

"How did you get-? Wait. You sent someone up there to take images?"

"No. I went myself."

"I thought I said no heroics, Stark," he snarled. "You could have been killed."

"And if those doors don't hold through the drill vibrations, then you and several military engineers could be killed trying to brace them. You needed to know what was behind the door, Jack."

Jack was furious, and silent for so long Nathan thought he'd walked away from the phone.

"You could have been killed," he repeated softly.

In another time stream Nathan would have scoffed at Jack's concern, making snide comments about Jack being too stupid to understand the calculations and risks, simply to piss him off, but something had changed inside him. His feelings towards Jack had changed, or perhaps he'd always felt this way but he'd refused to allow them out into the open, refused to acknowledge them.

"I'm sorry," he replied softly, and he wished he could promise never to take such a risk again but neither of them had chosen a risk-free life. His apology seemed to reach Jack.

"Just don't... Just wait for me next time."

They ended the call and Nathan looked up to find Henry staring at him, his look of surprise slowly morphing into intrigue.

"Nathan? Something you want to-?"

"Not now, Henry," but he softened his hard words with a hand squeezing Henry's arm before he walked away.

An hour later he got the call from topside that they were about to brace the elevator door on Sublevel 3, and Jack would be heading down to Sublevel 8 as soon as that was accomplished. 

He had told his Jack that he would see him around, but he knew that would never happen as that time stream was lost to him, yet if everything went well topside then this Jack could be standing right in front of him in less than two hours. Taking in his dust and dirt stained clothing, Nathan decided to use the time to clean up. For the first time since they met over a year ago in another universe, he was anxiously looking forward to seeing Jack Carter, part of him worried this Jack would turn out to be too different from his Jack, and the rest of him worried he would be too similar because that would make it impossible for him to walk away.

Only time would tell.

***

**JACK**

Once the plating was drilled into place to keep Sublevel 3 secure, Jack and Lupo made their second descent, this time heading straight past Sublevel 3. Jack continued his slow, visual check all the way down to Sublevel 8 despite his nervousness at finally getting to meet Nathan face-to-face. He hadn't felt this way about anyone in a very long time, almost enjoying the sensation of butterflies from just the possibility of a new romance. He knew it was stupid but something in his gut was telling him this could be it, that Nathan could be the Mr. Right he'd been seeking for almost half his life. He also knew he was crazy to fall for someone he'd never even met in person but he reminded himself that it wasn't impossible either. People fell in love every day under the strangest of circumstances. Hell, one of his fellow deputies had married a guy she met on an online dating service. He'd even toyed with the idea of signing up with the same service before accepting his career choices - Sheriff's deputy and F.E.M.A. USAR Specialist - had played havoc with all his previous, shortlived relationships. He wasn't even sure why he thought this thing with Nathan could turn out any different; just a gut instinct.

Eventually they reached Sublevel 8 and Jack reached for his radio only to remain open-mouthed and silent as Lupo thudded on the door.

"Open up!" she ordered.

The doors sprang open, revealing a familiar-looking younger guy in black-rimmed glasses peeking out at them.

"Doctor Fargo?" Jack asked while dangling on a line just three feet away over a seemingly bottomless hole, making every effort not to look down into the dark depths below him.

"Um. Yes?"

Jack raised both eyebrows when Fargo simply stared at him.

"Can we come in?" he asked eventually.

Lupo decided not to wait for the answer, swinging herself across to grasp the maintenance ladder running alongside the door before pushing Fargo back to make space for both her and Jack to enter the Sublevel. Jack remained alert to danger as he unhooked himself from the harness, not too keen on standing so close to a long, long drop to the bottom of the elevator shaft especially with Fargo, Lupo, and others standing so close to the edge of this particular abyss. As soon as he let his line and Lupo's fall back to hang down the center of the elevator shaft, still attached to the winch topside, he reached down and released the door key, breathing a silent sigh of relief as the doors closed.

"I really hate heights," he murmured under his breath, too low for anyone to hear. Jack keyed his radio. "Carter to control. We're in. Safety report to follow."

"Good job, Carter. We have the feed from your helmet camera. All looks good so we'll be setting up the elevator. Control out."

As he reached up to remove his safety helmet Jack caught a flurry of movement ahead, instantly recognizing the tall man approaching him. He finished taking off the helmet and switched off the camera feed because he didn't want topside seeing whatever happened next.

"Nathan," he stated with a smile, holding out one hand which was firmly grasped.

"Jack." Nathan indicated back along the corridor with his head, barely holding a smile in check but Jack could see the pleasure in his green-blue eyes. "Follow me. Please."

Jack looked back but Lupo was being greeted by the people around her, happy to see her alive and well. He saw her gesture towards him and knew from the warm looks on the faces of those around her that she'd been talking about her rescue and his part in it. He decided to leave her with her friends and colleagues for now to give her a chance to show them she was okay. Nathan glanced back too.

"Deputy Lupo is a liked and respected member of the community."

Nathan led Jack along several corridors into a rotunda filled with activity.

"WOW!"

"We've been coordinating the rescue efforts in the surrounding areas."

"This is Control?"

Nathan gave a half-shrug. Jack knew the main control center didn't have to be anywhere close to the actual disaster but he'd never anticipated it was right beneath his feet for the past week. It should have occurred to him though as Global Dynamics worked with the Department of Defense, hence the military camped topside, and it was obviously a good choice in the event of a nuclear attack. Mansfield had shown him the blueprints for Global - after he'd signed a gazillion security clearance forms - revealing just how well protected the installation was below Sublevel 8. Nathan carried on moving, heading up some stairs towards a glass-walled office area overlooking the rotunda.

As soon as Jack entered, Nathan touched something on his desk; the glass panes darkened and the door sealed behind him. To Jack's surprise Nathan walked straight back to him and reached out. Cupping the back of Jack's head, he angled in to kiss Jack firmly but warmly, as if savoring something he thought he might never have. Two thoughts ran wild through Jack's head - give in or pull back - and he was strangely reluctant to do the latter, feeling himself falling deeper into the kiss. The thud of his helmet hitting the floor brought him back to his senses.

"What..." He cleared his throat. "What was that?"

"I believe you dropped your helmet," Nathan stated drolly.

Jack pulled back another step. "Not that... **That**."

Nathan tilted his head a fraction. "Eloquent as ever. You're going to have to be a little more specific, Jack."

"Huh?" Jack shook his head a little as that if could shake loose his thoughts, taking another step back. "The kissing." Nathan's expression closed off a little. "Not that I didn't enjoy it," he added hastily, relieved when Nathan's gaze softened once more.

Nathan stared at him for a moment, as if trying to commit every line on his face to memory - or recall every line. Jack wasn't sure which but he felt as if he wasn't practically a stranger to Nathan, as if they had met before and though he had no memory of that shared past, Nathan had never forgotten him.

"I made a stupid mistake once and pushed y... someone away. I..." Nathan paused as if he thought he'd already said too much. He reached out again, this time cupping Jack's cheek, his thumb brushing over his lips gently. "I learned with science, great discovery comes with great risk. It took almost dying to realize the same applied to my personal life too." His eyes were dark, expression earnest. "I want to take that risk with you, Jack."

Weirdly, Jack understood because Abby had said something similar when she turned down his marriage proposal all those years ago.

"I asked Abby to marry me and she said no." Nathan blinked in confusion at Jack's words, and Jack hoped everything would become clear by the time he had finished telling Nathan about Abby. "She said..." He thought back to her exact words. "Marrying me would be taking the easy path, but we'd be heading in the wrong direction." He looked into Nathan's eyes. "She said we both needed to take the risk of walking our own path." Jack winced. "I'll admit I really didn't understand all that psycho-babble at the time. Figured she was just not that into me but... but she was right. It wouldn't have... worked."

"But we can, Jack. If you're willing to take the risk with me."

"We barely know each other."

"That's the risk, Jack." Nathan smiled brightly but there was a slightly haunted look in his eyes as if he regretted the years they'd never had, which was crazy but seemed to resonate within Jack as he looked back on an otherwise empty life.

This... whatever it was with Nathan... it wouldn't be taking the easy path. It was a risk but he didn't have a whole lot to lose personally. He didn't have much of a life beyond work - and Zoe. No marriage behind him, just a string of empty relationships that he'd known from the start were never going to go anywhere because few people wanted to take a risk on the life he led. Nathan understood the risks and accepted them... and so did he or he would have never made such a career choice.

"I can handle risks," he replied confidently, and when Nathan leaned in to kiss him again, this time he met him halfway.

****

It took far less time to rebuild Global Dynamics the second time around, mostly because they already had all the plans drawn up, apart from a few corrections to improve the resilience of the surface buildings. The construction crews were able to start work immediately as they'd already been security vetted after last time. As for the small town of Eureka, the clearance and rebuilding started with Main Street and a few select residences such as Nathan's house. Jack guessed it was one of the perks of being the Director of Global Dynamics, not that he was complaining as he'd taken full advantage, taking another risk by moving in with Nathan.

The new sheriff took up his appointment on the same day the newly constructed Sheriff's Office was completed, and though he knew Jo had felt slighted when overlooked in favor of Fallon following Cobb's retirement, he hoped she would accept Sheriff Michael Jonathan 'Jack' Carter - him - as Fallon's replacement. He suspected she'd make life a little difficult for him at times but Nathan had hinted at a new security position opening up at Global that was more suited to her skills. Apparently there had been some thefts from storage and having a full time security chief would make that harder to cover up in future.

On his first day as Sheriff, Jack looked in the bathroom mirror at his reflection. He was used to seeing himself in a beige uniform shirt but not without the olive green trousers. However, the shiny gold, seven-pointed star had the word SHERIFF written on it instead of DEPUTY, and so did his name tag. He was wondering how he was going to cope in this nutball town of exceptionally gifted scientists, though he figured his USAR training would likely be put to great use dealing with some of the crazy.

Thinking of crazy, he smiled as he thought of the man lying fast asleep in the next room. He had almost given up on ever finding Mr. Right before the earthquake brought him to Nathan Stark, and now he couldn't imagine a future without him. Last night had been... yeah. He smiled as he recalled their enthusiastic sex and how he'd discovered Nathan had a few ticklish spots leaving him howling in laughter, something Jack was going to exploit again. He'd never felt so cherished before by a lover, as if he was an incredible gift that would be savored and loved for all time. It was humbling and exhilarating, especially as he felt the same way about Nathan, willingly allowing Nathan to take him last night when usually he preferred to be the dominant one in a relationship. But that was how they were together, willing to give and take, to dominate and submit for each other. Not quite taking turns but meeting as equals despite Nathan's high credentials and multiple PhDs.

He leaned heavily to one side so he could catch sight of Nathan through the slightly ajar door, still sprawled across their bed. Nathan was a surprisingly heavy sleeper, and Jack had joked of using a taser to get him up in the mornings, especially at weekends. Usually it was only the aroma of freshly brewed coffee that got him moving at all and Jack wondered how Nathan had managed before he moved in with him.

"Nah! Probably had Fargo deliver coffee," he murmured as he straightened up and adjusted his shirt. He gave himself a personal pep talk. "Okay, Jack. You can do this."

"Talking to yourself, Sheriff?"

Jack smiled at the reflection in the mirror of the naked, sleep-ruffled man who padded up behind him, leaning back as Nathan's arms encircled his waist to embrace him. Nathan nuzzled cheek to cheek, his beard surprisingly soft against Jack's freshly shaved face. Even through two layers of clothing - beige uniform trousers and cotton boxers - Jack could feel Nathan's morning erection pressing hard against his ass. He groaned, wishing he had time to strip off and crawl back into bed with Nathan, and let Nathan fuck him back into sweet oblivion.

So tempting.

When Nathan began pressing soft kisses against his throat he almost gave into the temptation, but this was his first day as Sheriff and he really wanted to make a good impression by at least arriving on time. He eased away, turning to wrap his own arms around Nathan's naked body, running his hands down the strong back to the curves of his ass. They kissed deeply, with the easy familiarity from weeks of long nights wrapped around and inside each other. He could feel his body reacting to Nathan's closeness, to the scent of his sleep-warmed body, and the vibration of his soft moans of pleasure.

Too tempting.

"I have to go," he murmured painfully, pulling back but Nathan had other ideas, sliding to his knees on the warm bathroom floor.

Jack was torn between desire and duty as Nathan opened his trousers and pulled his hard erection free between the lowered zipper, gasping as Nathan lapped at the head before taking him into his hot mouth. He braced himself on the edge of the basin as Nathan quickly brought him over the edge, choking back a sob of pleasure at the intensity of this fast release. Nathan gave him one last lick before tucking him back in and zipping up his trousers.

"Nathan..."

Jack felt a moment of guilt, knowing he didn't have time to reciprocate, until he heard Nathan's questioning hum and followed his gaze to the semen splattering his neatly polished boots. Nathan gave him an unrepentant grin before grabbing a tissue and giving the boots a quick swipe over. He looked up at Jack, still on his knees, smiling wickedly.

"Go catch some bad guys, Sheriff... and maybe later I can fuck you while you're still in uniform."

Jack was going to protest because he was an officer of the law but, dammit, that sounded hot. He tugged on the collar of his undershirt.

"Maybe," he hedged, but they both knew _maybe_ meant _yes_.

****

**NATHAN**

Nathan flopped back in bed after watching Jack head out, smiling so hard his face was aching, though he knew that could also be something to do with the energetic blow job he'd just given.

A few months ago he'd stepped into the time chamber on his wedding day expecting to die, only to realize at the last possible moment as he stared across at Jack that he'd made the biggest mistake of his life when he alienated Jack on only his second day back in Eureka. He and Jack could have been friends and from what he now knew of Jack Carter, perhaps they could have been more than friends. Except that Jack had been carrying a lot of baggage from his broken marriage, mainly loneliness, trust issues, and a major case of denial of his true needs.

Entitlement, abandonment, and intimacy issues according to the report following the incident with Barlowe's Virtual Reality device.

Even if he could return to his old time stream Nathan doubted he would be able to alter the path of their relationship beyond Jack simply tolerating him, and he had gained so much more here with his Jack. So much more to lose.

For a moment he wondered what the V.R. device would have diagnosed in his own case. Though it truly didn't matter anymore as his personal Epiphany had allowed him to let go of the baggage from his own past relationship failures - with both Brad and Allison. It had allowed him to see clearly for the first time in years from both his own perspective and from the memories of the Nathan Stark he'd replaced, which were now firmly meshed with his own. He thought of his Jack, and how easily he'd persuaded Jack to stay on at Global Dynamics as they searched through the debris in the world above, and later to accept promotion to Sheriff.

His Jack.

He felt a momentary pang of regret for the Jack left behind in the old time stream, silently hoping he would find someone to love even if that person turned out to be Allison; no longer consumed by possessive jealousy at the very thought of them together. As he sipped his coffee he made a conscious decision to push any remaining thoughts of that other Jack Carter into a room at the back of his mind and lock the door, because he had **his** Jack now, and he'd never been happier in his life.

The sound of the front door bell rang through the house causing him to frown. He wasn't expecting anyone and had made it perfectly clear that anyone who simply dropped by uninvited, other than close friends, had better have a very good reason for disturbing him. Quickly dressing, pulling on a pair of comfy jogger bottoms and an old worn t-shirt of Jack's, he headed downstairs and opened the door.

The blond-haired girl on his doorstep with a red streak down one side and a fake nose piercing looked him up and down.

"Huh!" she stated appreciatively. "So my dad has taste after all," she stated boldly before stepping past him into the newly built house. "Nice! So... Which is my room?"

He smiled and shook his head as Zoe Carter-Ward make herself at home, sprawling on the couch. He'd liked the Zoe Carter in the old time stream and from first impressions, and the background information he'd gained mostly from Jack, this Zoe was little different. Still the same rebellious teenager running away from home, mostly to be with her dad.

"Up the stairs. Third door on the right," he stated nonchalantly. Her eyes widened because she'd obviously expected more of a scene and had simply been trying to bluff her way through. "First," he stated as she stood up. "Do either of your parents know you're here?"

He'd spent enough time grilling seasoned scientists who were trying to hide bad news from him to see the tell-tale signs so he pointed to the handset on the side table beside her.

"Call your mother," he ordered. "And then we'll figure out how to spring this on your dad," he added with a half-smile at her chagrined expression.

As he watched her talking animatedly down the phone to her mother, explaining where she was, Nathan had to smile. Zoe had adored her ' _doofus of a dad_ ' in the old time stream and despite her parents never marrying in this time line, it appeared the same still applied. He suspected she was just as clever as the other Zoe too but hiding her intelligence from both her parents, aiming to be average like her dad rather than showing her true potential. That would change once she was enrolled into Tesla, he thought.

Admittedly he was jumping the gun here as Jack and Zoe hadn't had the same father-daughter family relationship because her parents had never married and lived together for the first fourteen years of her life, but he'd still anticipated Jack would be a package deal with his daughter. After leaving her to get settled in her room he went and poured himself a fresh coffee, thinking of Jack and how he would react when he came home later to find Zoe here. He moaned slightly when he realized he likely wouldn't get his fantasy of fucking Jack in uniform that evening after all... or anything else until he managed to convince Jack all the bedrooms were fully soundproofed.

He chuckled at the thought of how that conversation would go.

Heading back up the stairs he knew it was time for him to get to work before someone blew something up in his absence. Once showered and dressed he peeked in on Zoe and found her fast asleep on her bed, having already guessed she'd taken an overnight flight from L.A. to Portland and the early bus from there to Eureka, so she had to be exhausted. He'd get Doctor Young to come check in on her but he was definitely going to make sure he was here when Jack got home later just to see his reaction. It was bound to be priceless.

As he passed through the center of town on his way to Global he spotted Jack talking with one of the construction crew while sipping one of Vincent's Vinspressos from the newly opened Cafe Diem. Jack saw him and smiled, face flushing with pleasure, and Nathan hoped that would still be the case once Eureka and Global Dynamics had started to play havoc with his life as Sheriff. Unlike in the old time stream, however, Nathan had a vested interest in making sure he kept this new Sheriff happy, and that had to count for a whole lot in their favor.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and as he drove along he could see the earthquake ravaged landscape slowly returning to normal, especially where Doctor Leonardo used her rapid tree growth technology. In a few more months the old time stream would be just a slowly fading memory, and though he would occasionally miss Allison and Kevin, he had a whole new set of memories to make now with Jack... and Zoe.

His life couldn't get any better than this.

END  


 


End file.
